IntuitiveSparks

Jeannie K. Dukic's Echo Creative Club

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:58:00 +0000

I'm delighted to be the June artist for Jeannie K. Dukic's Echo Creative Club for 2014!

Cherry blossoms are one of my favorite design motifs, so I couldn't resist selecting them when offered a choice of Jeannie's beads.

Jeannie's polymer clay art beads are a labor of love. Each one is an original design, and she meticulously hand-paints many of the designs, especially the florals. (Check out the Gin Blossom and Acanthus designs for more luscious eye candy!) The Cherry Blossom beads are available in two sizes - 1-1/4" focals and 3/4" earring pairs, and you can find her main page of polymer clay art beads here. Jeannie also makes a wide range of fantastic finished pieces - bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and more, which you can find here.

Following are pictures of what I created with two of Jeannie's Cherry Blossom art beads. I *totally* forgot to take pictures of Jeannie's beads before I started working with them , but I *did* take fairly decent close-ups so you can see the great detail on these beads.

First up is the bracelet, inspired by Linda Hanes' cuff bracelet in Bead-it-today.com (February 2014 issue). I took Linda's idea and made a few tweaks of my own (which I can *never* resist doing, whether it's a recipe or a jewelry design. I'm deviant, I know.).

The bracelet is based on a pre-made leather cuff, wrapped in recycled sari ribbon. The cuff came with a few holes in it, but I added *lots* more so I could affix the focal and embellishments. I was lazy and didn't want to dig out the Dremel, so I used a center punch on each hole a few times, then used an old needle file to ream out the hole. The beauty of the lazy strategy is that you can make each hole a different size to accommodate different elements, yet you don't need to switch out drill bits. Lazy *and* clever, no?

I added two of my lampwork spacer beads (the swirly pink and green one on the dangle, and the deep pink one on the right side of the focal), a short length of brass wire, assorted Czech seed beads and crystals, and one of my etched brass dragonfly charms.

I love this color combo, even though the coral in Jeannie's focal was challenging for me to match. I selected colors that were close (and added a pop of orange to brighten things up a little), and used the green to provide a rich background.

It's really comfortable and I love the way Jeannie's focal really stands out against the sage green.

For the second piece, a necklace, I wanted to keep the design simple to highlight the cherry blossom.

To me, this necklace has a vintage feel, with the drape of the smaller chain.

When designing a piece, one element I always love to include (whenever appropriate), is something that moves.

The jump rings with seed bead dangles carry the color of the focal throughout the piece and add that little hint of movement. I must confess though, putting seed beads on jump rings is a fiddly business, and one that sorely tests my patience. (Why oh why do I do this to myself?!???)

The above picture shows the terrific care and detail Jeannie puts into creating her beads.

Jeannie, thank you for including me in the 2014 Echo Creative Club! It has been a delight and an honor to work with your lovely art beads!

Bead Soup Blog Party: Dragonfly's Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Sat, 10 May 2014 06:26:00 +0000

My partner ChristieMurrow of Charis Designs Jewelry sent such a generous bead soup, it was a little difficult to know where to begin. I LOVE the focal and clasp, both from Havana Beads, one of Christie’s favorite local artists, and I knew I wanted to be able to see both on the front of the finished piece.

Christie’s soup included stone beads in pale pinks, which set off the smoky blue of the focal in an unexpected way, while the reddish brown tones of the accent beads pick up the rusty color in the toggle clasp’s glaze. Christie also included an assortment of silver beads, ivory pearls, and a couple of fun and funky blue beads.

From my stash came a few indicolite Swarovski crystals, short lengths of chain rescued from the thrift shop, and a handful of my own lampwork beads. It was *really* tricky to match the blue of the pendant, so I finally gave up on an exact match and just went with pretty blue beads in hues that complement the focal and bring to mind the dragonfly’s pond. I used a few of Christie’s silver beads, but left out the ivory pearls.

Figuring out a way to showcase the focal was the biggest part of the challenge for me. I don’t work often with pendants of this style (substantial, with a front-to-back hole), and was stumped for how to present it. Leafing through bead mags gave me a few ideas and I wound up making a bead link with one of my lampwork beads. Tiny dangles add movement to the focal and tie in colors from elsewhere in the piece.

From there, it was a matter of making a few more bead links, stringing some beads, and connecting the sections with chain, with careful attention paid to the overall length – with such a long pendant, I wanted to keep the necklace on the short side.

I’m really pleased with how the necklace came out. It was a joy to work with such a fresh-to-me color scheme, and I had a blast working with the lovely ceramic focal and clasp.

Christie, thank you for sending such a tasty bead soup, and Lori, as ever, thank you for being our fearless leader!

See what my partner Christie Murrow did with the beads I sent her:

http://www.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/

To check out all of the other wonderful Bead Soup results, click on this link:
http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2014/05/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

Ginger Tea recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Ginger is one of my favorite flavors - I love its warm spicy flavor no matter where I find it - as a kid, I loved gingerbread, ginger ale, and ginger candy. As I got older, I discovered new ways to enjoy this fantastic rhizome - Thai dishes, Japanese stir-fries, and Moosewood Restaurant's yummy ginger-miso dressing (I'll post that recipe too, I promise). Beyond ginger's obvious culinary delights, ginger is also a fantastic traditional remedy. I've been drinking lots of it lately, and have found that it helps with inflammatory stuff (like the arthritis in my back and those naughty monthly cramps), as well as helping to clear chest congestion when we caught that nasty cold a while back. Ginger's use as a traditional medicinal goes back more than 2,000 years, so there is a wealth of information on its uses. I encourage you to do your own research and decide if ginger is right for you. For starters, here's what WebMD has to say about ginger. One thing you need to know: If you have a chronic health condition or if you're on prescription medications, DO check with your healthcare professional before ingesting ginger in quantities greater than that used for culinary purposes. Ginger interacts with many different medications, and it acts as a blood thinner too. Following is how I prepare my ginger tea: You'll need about 9 ounces of fresh ginger for 3 quarts of water, or 13 ounces of ginger for 4 quarts of water. Refrigerate what you don't drink immediately, and consume within 24 hours of making. For best results, ginger tea should be drunk warm. Re-heat carefully - do not allow ginger tea to boil.

Peel ginger.

Cut into chunks.

Pulse-chop in food processor into tiny bits. You can also chop it with a knife if you don't have a food processor. The idea is to get it as finely chopped as possible.

Close-up of afore-mentioned tiny bits.

This is a 3-quart pot, filled with water and brought to a boil. Add chopped ginger and re-heat, just shy of a boil.

Turn heat off. Cover ginger tea. Allow to steep 2-3 hours.

Pour ginger tea through strainer.

Press chopped ginger with back of spoon to extract all the yummy gingery goodness.

I like to add a generous splash of almond milk to my ginger tea - the ginger tea is very strong and spicy, so the almond milk helps tone it down a bit and make it more of a "special treat" drink than a medicinal sort of thing.

Soup's On! (the big reveal!)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 07:01:00 +0000

Please visit my partner Christine's blog, Sweet Girl Design, to see what she created with the Bead Soup I sent her!

Here they are - my finished Bead Soup pieces - at least the ones I have finished so far! I've got another *this* close to done and beads pulled for yet another piece featuring Christine's lovely alternate focal. I'm still reeling from how much beady goodness she sent to me - it was such a lush, generous package filled with all kinds of gorgeous!

Note: I'm having a really difficult time loading pictures to the blog tonight - tried to load pics of the soup Christine sent, but it's just not cooperating. You can click here to see what she sent me.

When I first opened Christine's box of Bead Soup, I really wanted to turn some of the briolettes into a pair of dangly sparkly earrings - but wound up shelving that idea, because the holes on the labradorite and sodalite briolettes were just sooooo teeny tiny. It was impossible to get sterling wire of a sturdy-enough gauge through those holes, so I just went with super fine beading wire and made strung pieces instead - and I'm thrilled with the results!

Christine's handmade vintage rhinestone and filigree focal is absolutely stunning, and I really wanted to do it justice. I sketched out 4-5 different ways to work with it - I wanted to try it with everything, but in the end, I had to pick one and roll with it!

I wound up taking inspiration from the vintage Czech enamel necklaces pictured in one of my favorite eye candy jewelry idea books, Fabulous Fakes, by Carole Tanenbaum. The necklaces each feature a lovely large embellished filigree pendant, accented with dangly bits, suspended from lovely beaded strands. I thought about making it symmetrical like the necklaces in the book, really I did - I laid it out so everything matched, but it was just, well, just *too* symmetrical, and really kind of boring.

I decided to play up the blue and brass tones, so I found some great brass chain at Shipwreck Beads, and dangled Christine's lovely blue rondelles from every third link. On the other side, I used some of my etched handmade lampwork beads in a "brassy" color (transparent light brown) and strung them with a bead soup mix I already had on hand from a prior project. (A while ago, I used this same color scheme on a lanyard, and I really like it - it's elegant and stylish without being fussy.)

The grey-blue of the sparkly briolette crystals Christine included in the alternate focal package were perfect for the dangles from the filigree pendant. I used 22 gauge annealed steel wire to wire them to the dainty brass chain (also found at Shipwreck Beads). Let me just state for the record that I LOVE briolette/drop shape beads, but goodness gracious, they sure are nerve-wracking to wire-wrap, aren't they? Christine's lovely filigree toggle clasp finishes off this necklace perfectly.

This next piece is actually the first one I finished - the result of one of the many sketches I made based on Christine's soup.

This one features the afore-mentioned lovely labradorite briolettes with tiny holes, as well as some smaller blue rondelles that Christine sent, the brass rounds and dyed impression jasper, and one of my own handmade lampwork Nebula Series beads in a dark oceany blue. I used one of the "woven" round links Christine sent as part of the clasp, with a brass S-hook for the other part - had to bend the S-hook though, so it would lay properly.

The final pieces are a set of three stacking bracelets, all based on the color scheme that Christine sent, and incorporating as many of her beads as I could manage.

The first bracelet features one of the four vintage chandelier crystals that Christine sent me, which I combined with two of my etched lampwork beads, brass chain, some milky white faceted Czech beads and some of Christine's brass rounds. The second bracelet is very simple, but I love it: Christine's bright blue freshwater pearls and more of those yummy blue faceted rondelles (have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE faceted rondelles? No? Well, I *do* love them!). The third bracelet incorporates mixed media - wire, recycled sari silk fiber, one of my Desert Dreams series lampwork beads, and more of those great milky Czech faceted beads, with some cool brass spacers. I suppose you *could* wear just one bracelet at a time, but so far, I've worn all three bracelets together - I think they are happiest that way.

Christine, thank you SO much for being my partner for this Bead Soup Blog Party - I really appreciate it, and had a wonderful time designing with all the lovely treasures you shared with me! (And I'm pretty stoked that I got a new friend out of it too!)

Lori, thank YOU for hosting this incredible project. This is such a labor of love and life-force, and you handle it with style, class, kindness, and love. You are putting good energy into the world. Thank you!

As soon as I get the other pieces finished, I'll post pics and write-ups for them. In the meantime, you've got plenty more eye candy to check out - here's the link to the rest of the (more than 200) Third Reveal posts. Please visit as many posts as you're able, and do leave comments!

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/2013/04/welcome-to-3rd-reveal-of-7th-bead-soup.html

What she got/What I got

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

My fabulous partner Christine and I rescheduled our reveal for #3, this coming Saturday, April 20.

Find all of the other Second Reveal folks here.

Which means I should probably get pics of our respective soups posted without delay, right?

Here goes:

First up is what Christine sent to me - she very generously sent two soups! (and a delish chocolate bar!)

The main soup has a blue/brass/crystal color scheme. The focal is a scrumptious vintage rhinestone/filigree piece that she made herself (!!!) (anyone who knows me knows how I feel about something handmade! swoon!), a lovely brass filigree-style toggle clasp, 4 chandelier crystals, dyed impression jasper, sodalite briolettes, tiny shimmery labradorite briolettes, brass accent beads (plain and fluted), blue dyed freshwater pearls, and lots of blue crystal rondelles, along with four brass "woven" ring links, some cool blue big-hole beads, some blue/white/light blue plastic star spacers, and a couple of lengths of fiber cord - blue silk and brass-tone satin cord. WOW! What a pile of lovely stuff to play with!

The second soup Christine sent has a purple/red/blue color scheme - the focal is a decoupage tile, which I just love, accompanied by dyed red and blue agate beads, and some gorgeous sparkly blue/grey brolette drop crystals for some serious bling. I've decided to use gunmetal findings with this color scheme - hoping I get this piece finished before the big reveal!

Christine - thank you thank you thank you for all the fun new beads I've gotten to play with these past few weeks! I hope I'm doing them justice!

OK, now for what I sent to Christine:

Here's the sneak peek pic I posted a few weeks ago:

Here is the unaltered view of the "sneak peek" pick:

And this picture tells you what everything is:

DO be sure to check back on Saturday, April 20, 2013, to see what Christine and I made with our piles of beady goodness!

Introducing my BSBP partner, Christine Stonefield!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:38:00 +0000

Breathing new life into vintage finds is Christine Stonefield’s favorite approach to making jewelry. “I love to make pieces that are unique, but not so extravagant that you couldn’t wear it with anything,” says Christine, whose elegant work has a timeless appeal.

Christine’s grandmother and uncle started her on the creative path early in life, with painting on china and canvas. As she got older, she began 4H and ceramics, followed by additional painting classes.

Christine’s art jewelry journey began in the spring of 2008, with a pearl-knotting class. In order to experiment with new techniques and materials, and to build her skill set, she’s taken many more classes including chain maille, wire wrapping, and kumihimo.

Early in her journey, Christine’s niece Erica fell seriously ill. Wanting to cheer her niece, Christine focused on making jewelry for her. Years later, Christine still finds inspiration in Erica’s spirit. “She was beautiful and delicate,” says Christine.

Christine’s favorite techniques are stringing and wirework. “My next goal is to learn how to make my own clasps and toggles,” says Christine. Her close attention to quality and detail is evident in the pictures of her work. In fact, Christine reports that her biggest challenge is that she’s her own worst critic. “Often, I’ll drop off some jewelry at Zodiac, only to go back the next day to pick up a piece or two, in order to “tweak” it. I’ve even done this to friends and family!”

Christine sells her work locally at Zodiac, in Gahanna, OH (near Columbus), and she’s in the process of opening her Etsy shop, Sweetgirldesign1. Keep up with her latest adventures through her blog, Sweet Girl Design.

Pssst...can you keep a secret?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:19:00 +0000

After much trial and tribulation (mostly due to my back issues which are finally, thankfully, starting to resolve), I gleefully mailed my Bead Soup to my partner, Christine S.. She and I have been chatting back & forth via email, so I've kept her updated. Christine has been very understanding, but still - what a relief to get it OUTTA here! She posted mine to me on the same date, so now all I have to do is stalk my mail carrier.

Hope she likes what I sent!

Bead Soup Blog Party #7 - I'm in!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:51:00 +0000

Between kids, home, and developing new designs for my lampwork beads, I haven't been making much jewelry lately - yeah, there hasn't been a lot of time for jewelry making, but even more - there hasn't been much motivation, oomph, or even inspired spark. I think I really just needed a break.

I knew that the next Bead Soup Blog Party was fast approaching, and was really on the fence about participating, given my lack of creative mojo. (I first participated in the September 2011 Bead Soup Blog Party and had a blast! I made a few new friends, not least of whom was my partner, Ambra Gostoli - annnd, I got booted waaay out of my comfort zone and came up with some exciting new (for me!) designs.)

Then I learned that Lori Anderson, creative mastermind behind the increasingly popular Bead Soup Blog Parties, is hosting just one of these massive events per year now. (Really, I'm not at all surprised - coordinating this online festivity is an insane amount of work and stress - Lori is truly gifted and amazing to be able to pull this off, time & again. She inspires me, that girl does.)

Suddenly the inner child in me stood up on the chair and loudly declared that she did NOT want to be left out.

So...I signed up this past weekend.

Now I'm trying to figure out what kind of bead soup to send my partner - I sent Ambra one of my tulip beads and some coordinating spacers last time, and I've got some great calla lily beads happening now...but...gosh, maybe something other than a floral theme? Hmmm. Sounds like a GREAT excuse to head out to the torch!

In any event, break time is over and I'm hoping my creative muse gets the memo.

Just look at what she did with my beads!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:55:00 +0000

Lariat necklace by Jennifer Justman, Field of Tulips lampwork focal by Christine Hansen

Jennifer Justman is one of my favorite online jewelry friends. She has a sweet personality and creates thoughtfully original jewelry designs. Too, having written tales and poetry since she was a child, Jenn’s delightful writing style is a joy to read. (You can check out Jenn’s blog here: Soul’s Fire Designs.)

Jenn’s been making jewelry since 2004, when she first paired sterling silver pendants with seed beads in her wedding colors of royal blue and deep green as gifts for her bridesmaids.

She’s been busy since then – not only does Jennifer have three kids under six, but she makes fantastic jewelry (for humans *and* dolls!) which she sells primarily through her shop on Etsy, Soul’s Fire Designs. Her favorite materials include dark brass, sari silk, gemstones and glass. She’s also very fond of artisan focals including wooden tiles from JLynn Jewels and Skye Jewels, ceramic focals and elements, and of course, lampwork beads.

Jenn is talented with metal; her favorite techniques include wire-wrapping and hand stamping. “There is something about the perfection of its imperfection that just gets me,” says Jenn. “Swinging a hammer is also great stress relief.” Jenn says she’s fascinated with new techniques, and hopes to add basic soldering to her repertoire soon. “I’m also interested in the various types of clay, but for right now, I think I will leave them to the experts.”

Mixed media necklace by Jennifer Justman, Calla Lily lampwork focal by Christine Hansen

“My inspiration comes from everywhere,” says Jenn, who listens to music almost constantly, so it’s no surprise that music is a huge inspiration for her. “A lyric, a mood, an entire song can get my creative spark going.”

Keeping that spark going with three little ones can be a challenge though, and one Jenn copes with by sleeping less. “I used to be a total morning person, but now I’m a bit of a night owl. The calmness of nighttime is very soothing and provides room for my creativity to finally get a chance to flow.”

“I love what I do,” says Jenn, “not just for the chance to create beautiful things, but for the friends it has brought me. Being a SAHM can be very lonely, but I have made the most wonderful friends through this bead-y/creative community.”

I thought it would be great fun to see what Jenn might do with a couple of my lampwork focals, so I sent her one of my Field of Tulips beads and one of my Calla Lily beads, along with one of my lampwork heart pendants. I’m thrilled with how Jenn worked with the tulip and calla lily beads, and I can’t wait to see what she does with the heart. You can see additional pictures of Jenn’s work with my beads at her blog post, here. (all photos in this post are by Jennifer Justman)

Forest Fantasy Mixed Media Art Charm Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Lovely Em models the completed necklace.

A couple of months ago, a dear family friend asked if I could please create an "over-the-top mixed media necklace with art charms, in forest green, deep blue, and plum purple."


Tierra Cast toggle with seed bead/faceted Czech glass bead section.

Though I don't do many necklaces in general, and it has been AGES since I've done any mixed media work (I've been really focusing on my lampwork beads lately), I couldn't bear to tell her "no can do." So I pulled stuff from my stash, took pics and sent them to her to see if I was on the right track...and I was.

Pressed glass flower dangles and upcycled necklace chain.

But inspiration was elusive - I knew I had *most* of the elements I needed, but what about the design? I didn't have a clue where to start, and it felt like something was missing anyway, so what's a girl to do? Go on an inspiration hunt, that's what!

Ribbons and recycled (fair trade!) sari silks wrapped with 19 ga. annealed steel wire & connected to upcycled necklace chain.


The center of the ribbon section features one of my lampwork beads strung onto the blue and green sari ribbons - I love how this turned out, and I think I'll make more lampwork beads with holes big enough to fit multiple ribbons. :)

The other end of the ribbon section - also finished with a wrap of my beloved 19 ga. annealed steel wire

Poring through my stash of jewelry magazines and surfing my favorite jewelry sites, I found some mixed media necklaces I liked. Made rough sketches of my favorites...and then I really looked at them. As I didn't want to copy someone else's work, I decided to focus only on my favorite element of each piece.

The center of the necklace front - how it all comes together.

I made a list and rough sketches of each of those favorite elements, pulled the ingredients from my stash, ordered a bird connector from Bello Modo, and then started laying things out, playing with texture and color, and trying to get it just right.

The charm cluster: custom art charm by C. Hansen using Vintaj Arte Metal blank, Vintaj patinas, paper, chalks, & sealer; one of my lampwork hearts, one of Peg's sparkle-icious dichroic glass cabochons, a cute little beach stone, and more of the adorable pressed glass flower drops.

Once I started placing components here and there, the necklace came together amazingly fast - it was one of those takes-forever-to-get-rolling/comes-together-at-light-speed things.


Bead links made with 19 ga. annealed steel wire, Czech seed beads, and Czech glass beads.

I'm *really* pleased with how it turned out, and even better, my client LOVES it! win/win!


The bird connector was originally brass-tone, but that didn't work with the color scheme, so I used my new Vintaj patinas on it - love the results! (I need Vintaj patinas in lots more colors!)

Now that I've gotten my feet wet with this design concept, I think I'll try making more mixed media pieces using this strategy. Stay tuned for pics!

The view from the other side. Please ignore the messy kitchen counter!

How the charm cluster hangs when it's worn.


Another view of the whole necklace.

Last Call for 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Hansen) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Strung Lanyards 101 by C. Hansen (class samples)

In order to spend more time at the torch making lampwork beads (yay!), I've decided to cut back on my teaching schedule (boo!).

As a result, next Sunday, October 21, 2012, will be your last opportunity until 2013 to take Strung Lanyards 101 and/or Wild Wire Mixed Media Pendant.

Wild Wire Mixed Media Pendants by C. Hansen (class samples)

Both classes take place at Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA: Strung Lanyards runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Wild Wire runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

I'm also offering a new class this year, the Chain Reaction Necklace, a combination of chain and bead links. This versatile design can also be worn as a lanyard or an eyeglass holder. The Chain Reaction Necklace class will take place at Shipwreck Beads on Saturday, November 3, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Chain Reaction Necklaces by C. Hansen (class samples)

Any of these projects make wonderful gifts, and it's early enough in the season that you can actually start (and finish!) these lovely pieces in plenty of time for holidy gift-giving.

Read on to learn more about these classes. Register for classes with Shipwreck Beads - by phone at (360) 754-2323 or (800) 950-4232, or online:

Strung Lanyards 101:

Student work, Strung Lanyards 101

If you wear a badge, the Strung Lanyards class is for you.

Student work, Strung Lanyards 101

If you like wearing a lovely necklace, piled with art charms, the Strung Lanyards class is for you.

Assymetrical Art Charm Necklace by C. Hansen, lampwork glass beads, vintage sheet music bead, lampwork glass heart, etched metal art charm, and embossed collage art charm, all by C. Hansen

If you wear eyeglasses, the Strung Lanyards class is for you. (Leave off the badge, and use the center link to hold your eyeglasses.)

Student work, Strung Lanyards 101

Geared for beginners and beyond, we'll combine heavy beading wire, your favorite beads, and a generous portion of bead soup to make a gorgeous functional necklace. Skills covered include planning and layout, stirring up a delicious bead soup, stringing and crimping. Class fee is $25 (class fee will increase in 2013).

Wild Wire Mixed Media Pendant:


Wild Wire Mixed Media Pendant by C. Hansen for Bead Soup Blog Party

I took part in the Bead Soup Blog Party last year, and was really stumped when my partner sent me a gorgeous bamboo agate focal to work with. Until then, I hadn't worked much with stones, precious, semi-precious, or otherwise, and just did not have a clue where to begin.